Skylab is Trendy

Picture(s) of the Day for 11/7/2010. It's the final day of the 3rd annual Astronaut Autograph & Memorabilia Show (AAMS). Interest in the Skylab missions of the early 1970s has become quite trendy lately. (OK- I fully realize it's only trendy among nerdy space-obsessed individuals, not the general public.) I mentioned to one of my buddies (the nerdy space-obsessed crowd is a small one and the same individuals tend to show up at these events) that I wished I had a great Skylab photo to get signed because all eight of the living Skylab astronauts (there were nine total) were in attendance and who knows when that will happen again. My friend pulled out a binder (since nerdy space-obsessed individuals are prepared for such eventualities) and gave me a great photo from his collection. I was off and running. Only after I got all eight Skylab astronauts to sign the photo did I remember to take photos of them. Unfortunately, by the time I circled back, Joe Kerwin and Owen Garriott had left. So, I only have six photos to share below. (Yeah, I know my readers are devastated by this news.)

Bill Pogue


Jerry Carr


Ed Gibson


Jack Lousma


Paul Weitz


Al Bean


Speaking of nerdy space-obsessed individuals (I say this with great fondness since I'm one of them), below is a picture of my friends Sabrina and Matt from Australia. I wish I had thought to take more pictures of the "regulars" I've come to know.


Today's astronaut lectures were hosted by Hoot Gibson (Space Shuttle) and Charlie Duke (Apollo 16).


I got a kick out of the "Have a Nice Day" picture that Charlie Duke included in his slide show.


After the autograph show concluded in the afternoon, I ended up going out to dinner with my friend Al, Paul Weitz, and Matt Weitz (Paul's son). We all went in one car which meant I left mine in the parking lot of the Kennedy Space Center. This nearly caused a security incident since we didn't get back from dinner until an hour after the center closed and the parking lot was cordoned off. Oops. We had to do some fast talking to retrieve my car.